(1) Field of the Invention
This invention concerns a bottle closure device useful for sealing thin necked bottles such a wine bottles.
(2) Description of the Art
For centuries, corks have been used as a bottle closure. Even today, wines of medium to high quality are packaged in bottles that are sealed with corks. Cork is typically grown in Portugal and comes in a variety of grades. High quality cork can be expensive. Further, a small percentage of wines becomes tainted or “corked” by cork taste as a result of imperfect corks. Likewise, a small percentage of bottled wines go bad due to imperfections in the cork seal that allow the bottled wine to become contaminated. Further, cork can deteriorate over time. Indeed, some vintners must periodically re-cork wine aging in bottles as a result of cork decomposition. The use of cork as a wine bottle seal can be costly for these reasons.
Cork is also not user friendly. A cork requires a tool to removed it from the bottle. Often the process of removing the cork from the bottle leaves pieces of cork in the wine that must be fished out when the wine in poured in a glass. Further, corked bottles are not easily resealed resulting in bottle leakage or contamination of the wine remaining in the resealed bottle.
The is a need therefore for a bottle closure devices that are inexpensive, that do not degrade, that maintain a seal for a long period of time, and that are easy to disengage from a bottle opening and reinsert into the opened bottle.